The Story of Hope for the Day
In 2011, Founder Jonny Boucher saw a need for hope in the music industry. He experienced the loss of several family and friends due to suicide and wanted to create a movement that reminded people around the world that they were not alone in their mental health struggles. Through this profound loss and desire, Hope for the Day was created.
In those early years, much of our time was spent doing outreach in Chicago music venues. This began as simple as handing out flyers with the suicide hotline on them and grew to include tabling at concerts, handing out wristbands, and distributing different types of mental health resources.
As we continued this outreach, we realized that a significant piece of the puzzle was missing. There had been silence surrounding mental health for so long that many of our conversations were centered on correcting misconceptions about mental health and suicide.
But what if there was a different way? What if we could educate people on mental health before it got to the crisis stage?
Out of these questions, we pioneered programming focused on being proactive in our suicide prevention efforts.
Proactive suicide prevention is all about creating an environment to address mental health challenges before someone reaches the point of crisis rather than reacting after it’s happened.
Examples of a proactive mindset include:
Engaging in mental health conversations before a tragedy
Noticing a shift in “baseline behavior”
Meeting with a therapist or other clinician regularly
By empowering intervention at the earliest signs of mental health challenges, we’ve been able to impact even more people and save lives.
Today, although we have expanded our reach and programming, we remain true to our humble beginnings. This means you can still find us tabling at your favorite concert, but you can also find us attending online streaming events or providing mental health education programming in corporate spaces. We have programming designed for every place, every space, and every person in mind.
If you are looking to get involved with us to help break the silence in your own community, we have several options for you.
We provide our free education programming virtually throughout the month, as well as by invitation in corporate and school spaces. We also have an e-learning option for individuals to learn on their own time and at their own pace.
We have opportunities for individuals to take action with us year-round. Whether Streaming for Hope, running in the Chicago Marathon, or getting your workplace involved, we have something for everyone.
Through our outreach, we meet people where they’re at in their communities. When you see us out and about, don’t hesitate to stop by and chat! You can also help us have those conversations by volunteering with us at an event or bring them into your own community by giving out resources and wristbands.
Thanks to our team of passionately dedicated staff and volunteers, of today and of the past 12 years, we have been able to make an impact in all 50 states, 26 countries, and 17 different languages and remind them all of the same thing: IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK.
We are incredibly thankful for the impact we have made over the last 12 years; however, there is still work to be done. If you share this pressing sense of urgency to be proactive towards suicide prevention, consider taking action with us.
In Chicago? Join us at Sip of Hope Coffee on Tuesday, November 28, at 5:30 p.m. CST for a donation-based, in-person Topics Orbiting Suicide education workshop!
Not in the area? Find out other ways to partner with us for Giving Tuesday!